Art,  Events,  Spring into Writing,  Writing

Ken Rolston vs. Comics

May 1, 2019 /

Welcome to the first day of Spring into Writing! More info about the event is here: http://ngi.c96.myftpupload.com/spring-into-writing/

Ken Rolston is the current Illustration Coordinator for the SCBWI Canada West. I love his enthusiasm and his passion for learning and teaching. Ken has an autobiographical web comic that he creates every week. The comic was originally called Dad vs. the Threenager, but is now known as Dad vs. Kindergarten. The spectacular thing about Ken’s comic is that he was able to gain a following of around 10K people in about a year on Instagram by posting just only once a week! Look at more of Ken’s work here: http://kenrolston.com

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Dv3_Sketchbook01

Sitting in the hospital, the day my son was born, I started drawing in a sketchbook I had saved just for his story. Back then I didn’t know those sketches would lead to a cartoon. I just wanted to document the little things that made us laugh, the little things that would be forgotten as he grew. Those first few months are already nothing more than a blur, so the sketches already serve as a great reminder.


Back then, before he could talk, I drew him as the bringer of Chaos – a tiny god-like figure that disrupted and controlled our every move. We prayed he would learn to talk – so we could understand him better. Today, it has come full circle…now we pray he will stop talking, just for thirty seconds, so we can hear ourselves think.

In those early days we kept waiting for the terrible twos to hit us – and they did hit us – after he turned three. By that time, I had so much material for “Dad vs the Threenager” that it would almost write itself.


Recently, I posted my 111th comic strip – it has been one comic strip a week for over two years. My son has grown so much! We have moved on to “Chapter 2 – Dad vs Kindergarten”. In that time, I’ve learned a few things:

The truth about raising a toddler.

 In order to write about our adventures, we have to have adventures – quality time with your kids is everything. They are the ones we do this for.

Write down your own adventures as soon as you can, I don’t know how many funny stories I’ve lost because I thought there was no way I would forget that “line” he just used.

Only you can tell your story. Believe it is worth telling, and tell it.

Finally, there will always be downsides, learn from them and move on! It’s all part of the game.

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Follow Ken:

Website: http://kenrolston.com/

Instagram Dad vs. the Threenager: https://www.instagram.com/dadv3nager/

Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolstonken/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dadv3nager

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtofKenRolston/

7 Comments

  • Debra Daugherty

    May 1, 2019 at 8:57 am

    Thanks, Ken, for sharing your work. How wonderful to have an amazing son for inspiration! The shopping cart incident has happened with me when shopping with my nieces and nephews when they were young, At the checkout, I always found something I didn’t remember placing in my cart.

    • Susie Sawyer

      May 5, 2019 at 8:50 pm

      Thank you, Ken! And thank you for the reminder to write down inspiration when it happens. I’ve lost so many ideas because I didn’t take the time to record them immediately! I enjoyed your encouraging post very much!

  • Kelly Vavala

    May 4, 2019 at 7:00 am

    Great idea! We have their baby books for their first year of their lives and after that we just stop writing about all the great/funny/fantastic moments we treasure! Hoping, like you said we will remember! Looking forward to following you! Thank you for sharing!